Sweet Revenge for ‘The Spider’

The world’s greatest middleweight -- and perhaps its greatest
fighter at any weight -- penned another chapter in his growing
legacy, as he laid waste to Yushin Okami
in less than two full rounds.

Anderson
Silva -- who has won 15 consecutive fights, a staggering 14 of
them inside the fenced walls of the Ultimate Fighting
Championship’s hallowed Octagon -- leveled the Japanese standout
with a short right hook and finished him with brutal
ground-and-pound in the UFC 134 headliner on Saturday at the HSBC
Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Referee Herb Dean
stepped in to save Okami from further damage 2:04 into round two,
as Silva (31-4, 14-0 UFC) defended his middleweight crown for the
ninth time and avenged his 2006 disqualification to the judoka.

From the start, it was clear Okami (26-6, 10-3 UFC) was out of his
element. Silva welcomed him into the clinch against the cage and
ripped into his ribs with knees; somewhere, Rich
Franklin cringed. Late in round one, Silva whipped a kick into
Okami’s head and backed him into the cage as the horn sounded. The
end seemed near.

In round two, Silva showed no regard for Okami’s punching power,
lowered his hands below his waist and dared him to strike. Standing
flat-footed, the Brazilian dropped Okami to the seat of his pants
with a short, right jab. Okami returned to his feet but only
briefly. Met with a wicked right hook, he went down again, this
time in a fetal position. Silva followed him, battering him with a
knee and elbow to the body. Punches came next, and Dean moved in on
Okami’s behalf.

Griffin (18-7, 9-5 UFC) dared to exchange with the 2005 Pride
Fighting Championships middleweight grand prix winner and paid the
steepest of prices. Shogun clipped Griffin with a combination in
the center of the Octagon, put him on all fours and launched a
stinging assault, first with punches, then with hammerfists. The
match nearing its end, Rua (20-5, 4-3 UFC) bounced Griffin’s head
off the canvas like a basketball, his superiority over “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 1 winner clearly established.

“Forrest is a good fighter,” Rua said. “I respect him, but I
trained hard for three months for this day.”

Antonio
Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira File Photo

“Minotauro” isn’t finished by any means.

Returning Nogueira Wipes Out Schaub

Former
Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight titleholder Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira sent the partisan Brazilian crowd into an
emotional frenzy, as he wiped out “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10
finalist Brendan
Schaub on a series of heavy first-round punches. The dramatic
finish, in Nogueira’s first appearance in more than a year, came
3:09 into round one.

Schaub (8-2, 4-2 UFC) fought out of clinches and kept the Brazilian
icon at a distance, but Nogueira landed liberally throughout the
brief encounter. Midway through the period, “Minotauro” blasted
Schaub with a two-punch combination and dropped him face-first to
the canvas with a short, straight left hand. One last left on the
prone Coloradan put the exclamation point on it.

Prior to the bout, much of the MMA world wondered if Nogueira’s
career had reached its end, as he had undergone serious hip and
knee surgeries during his 18 months away from the cage. As he left
the arena, there were no such doubts about his ability to still
compete at a high level. Nogueira can point to Schaub as
evidence.

“I was injured really bad,” said Nogueira (33-6-1, 1 NC, 4-2 UFC).
“I had surgery on both hips and my knee. I accepted this fight
because I never had a fight at home. This is my first fight in
Brazil. I fight for [the Brazilian fans].”

Barboza Outduels Pearson, Takes Split
Verdict

The damage on the face of Ross
Pearson -- a hematoma above the left eye, a cut near the right
-- told the story. The speed and accuracy behind the strikes of
Edson
Barboza were too much for him to overcome.

The undefeated Barboza (9-0, 3-0 UFC) won a split verdict from “The
Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 winner in a featured lightweight match,
as he worked his hands and feet together in beautiful concert. All
three judges scored it 29-28, two of them for Barboza, who remains
unbeaten in nine professional appearances.

To his credit, the rugged Pearson (12-5, 4-2 UFC) disrupted the
Brazilian dynamo’s rhythm through much of the first round, and
though he sustained his aggression, success proved elusive. A
former Ring of
Combat champion, Barboza floored Pearson with a sizzling
second-round combination, as he followed a brutal kick to the body
with a clean right hook to the head. Pearson recovered, but the
tide had taken a subtle turn against him.

Barboza slowed Pearson’s forward motion in the second and third
rounds, leaned on his stout chin, worked his angles and won the
favor of two of the three cageside judges.

Nedkov Finishes Cane, Stays
Unbeaten

Bulgarian import Stanislav
Nedkov walked through heavy fire to keep his unbeaten record
intact, as he stopped Luiz Cane on
first-round punches in a light heavyweight showcase. A right
hand-left hook combination followed by a series of punches on the
ground polished off the Brazilian 4:12 into round one.

Cane (11-4, 1 NC, 4-4 UFC) had Nedkov measured at the start, as he
shrugged off attempted clinches from the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black
belt and bloodied his nose with left hook-anchored combinations.
Still, Nedkov never quit firing his right hand, and, with roughly a
minute remaining, he cracked Cane with one of them and wobbled him
with a left hook to the temple. Cane danced away awkwardly and
retreated to the cage, his back turned. There was no escape. Nedkov
(12-0, 1-0 UFC) floored him near the fence and finished it there.
With that, his UFC debut was a smashing success.